Fiscal Restraint Not Shaded By Race

July 16, 2001|By PAUL GOLDMAN Guest Columnist

Taxes

This being the 21st century, is it too much to ask for the Daily Press editorial board to refrain from claiming that former Gov. Doug Wilder 's skin color affected his decisions on tax and budget matters? The July 9 editorial "No tax pledge" gave this explanation for Wilder's running and governing on a campaign pledge not to raise taxes: "Gov. Doug Wilder...chose any path other than a tax increase to balance the state budget. As a Democrat and as the nation's first elected black governor, Wilder set out to disprove those who assumed he would be a wild spender."

So there we have it: Race made him do it. Twelve years later, Wilder's black skin defines his policies even on things green.

Let's cut to the chase: There has never been a so-called "wild spender" ever to get a major party nomination for governor in the history of the Commonwealth.

What passes for "liberalism" in Virginia was never based on taxing and spending policy. The term "liberal" was coined in Virginia politics to refer to white candidates for office who believed black Virginians were people, too, with the same rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

Harry Byrd and his band of segregationists then coined the term "ultra liberal" in various forms to drive home this same point about white politicians opposed to their policy of "massive resistance" to the Constitution.

They ruined the lives of many a Virginia politician using these terms and whispering that such a white candidate was "a friend of you- know- who."

There have been no big spenders and no big taxers in the history of Virginia politics.

The biggest tax increase raiser in modern times was the brainchild of none other than the saint of Republican fiscal conservatism, former Gov. Mills Godwin. Indeed, the fact is that more Republican governors have raised taxes than Democratic governors.

I know something about Wilder's "no tax pledge." I helped draft the speech where he announced his no-tax pledge. The decision had nothing to do with race and everything to do with his views of what the next governor had to do to get this state back on track fiscally and economically.

Once elected on that platform, Wilder was then blindsided when he took office and was told the rosy picture painted in the last administration's final budget was not true by the order of many hundreds of millions of dollars.

Thus, Wilder had a very difficult choice. The last Democratic governor had promised not to raise taxes, and then reneged.

Should he do the same thing? Or would this so compromise the integrity of the governor's office that it would make a mockery of the whole political process?

Wilder did precisely the right thing to maintain the integrity of the budget, our politics and the governor's office. He said at the time that the effort to tighten our belts would produce huge surpluses once the Bush recession had run its course.

Wilder was right. Because he cut billions in wasteful spending and redirected lottery profits into the general fund to pay for education, roads, health care and other vital services, Wilder's successors had record surpluses to cut taxes and increase investments in many areas.

Wilder made the tough choices because he was a Virginian, not a "black governor" out to slay some image that is in the minds of the media.

Goldman is former chairman of the Virginia Democratic Party and former campaign manager for Doug Wilder.